The UNFCCC secretariat joins this year's celebrations of International Women's Day on 8
March by highlighting women's inspiring actions and the importance of gender equality for
addressing climate change. The theme of this year's International Women's Day
'Equality for women is progress for all' is particularly pertinent when it comes to
climate action. Read the message from the Executive Secretary
here (106 kB) .

At the UN Climate Change Conference in Doha, Qatar, in 2012, Parties to the Convention
committed to promoting gender balance and improving the participation of women in UNFCCC
negotiations and in the representation of Parties in bodies established under the Convention or
the Kyoto Protocol by adopting
decision 23/CP.18, which became known as the 'Doha miracle'. Read more on what has
happened since then here.

The member organizations of the UNFCCC Women and Gender constituency represent several
hundred grassroots groups, national and international organizations and networks. The
constituency seeks to represent women's voices, experiences, preferences, needs and
capacities, and works towards equal representation within Parties and observer organizations
to the UNFCCC and the incorporation of gender dimensions and human rights into UNFCCC
negotiations for gender-sensitive climate policies all levels.

The tremendous scope and importance of linkages between gender and climate change has been
captured in a wide range of resource materials, many of which are available on UN Women's
new 'Knowledge Gateway for
Women's Economic Empowerment' and UNFCCC's Climate Change Information Network
Clearinghouse CC:iNet.

Young women and climate change Read
the statements (308 kB) by the focal points of the UNFCCC observer constituency of youth
non-governmental organizations (YOUNGO) on the occasion of International Women's Day 2014
here, and learn how young women around the world take climate action by visiting the
UNFCCC Youth Portal.

Mary Robinson calls for closing the 'gender gap' in agriculture on the
occasion of International Women's Day 2014
H.E. Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and Chair of the Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate
Justice, highlighted in her keynote speech the impacts of climate change on agriculture
and how responses need to be gender sensitive. Read her speech
here (349 kB) .

Progress on a gender-sensitive approach for the Green Climate The
governing instrument for the Green Climate Fund
(GCF) stipulates that the Fund will strive to maximize the impact of its funding for
adaptation and mitigation, seeking a balance between the two, while taking a gender-sensitive
approach. At its last meeting in February, the GCF Board made substantive progress on how to
ensure a gender-sensitive approach by agreeing to consider a gender action plan for the GCF
at its upcoming meeting in May and mainstreaming gender considerations in all its decisions
on the operationalization of the GCF.

FAO organizes Gender and Climate-Smart Agriculture Learning Event In
February, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) successfully organized a learning event
on why gender matters when enhancing food security and increasing the uptake of climate-smart
agriculture practices. A broad range of tools that can help gather information on gender and
advance gender mainstreaming in agriculture have been introduced and made available online.

Findings of the event include case studies of gender-sensitive climate-smart agriculture
practices and information on what kind of climate-smart policies, financing structures and
practices are needed for more equality in the agriculture sector. Read more here

The workshop will bring together more than 50 participants from 16 African countries along
with donors, development partners, and issue experts. After the conference, on 8 March, a
rally and parade including over 150 women from across the Liberian countryside will be
greeted by Liberian President Sirleaf, who will receive the outcomes from the conference.